Arbeloa on Mourinho before Benfica v Real: No one like him | OneFootball

Arbeloa did not tire of praising coach José Mourinho at the press conference previewing the match between Benfica and Real Madrid.

The press conference of Álvaro Arbeloa, ahead of the clash between Benfica and Real Madrid, turned into a sort of tribute to José Mourinho. The Spanish coach, still at the beginning of his journey in his new experience as a head coach, did not hide his admiration for the former "Merengue" coach and stated that no one will be able to be like the "Special One."

"There will be no one like him. Anyone who tries to imitate him will fail. My success will come from being myself. I learned a lot from him, in tactical, personal, and communicative terms. But tomorrow, it will be 90 minutes, he will want to win, and so will I. That is the most important thing," he told the Spanish and Portuguese media.

The former Spanish international confessed that he did not miss the moment when Mourinho spoke to the press. "I didn't miss the mister's conference. I did the same when I was a player, always with the TV on. I felt tremendous pride hearing everything he said about me. José continues to be much more than a coach. He was, on a personal level, very important in my career, and I consider him a great friend."

"We kept in touch. But I don't want to be annoying. I know how he is. He changes his phone number a lot. But I know he would answer my call if I called him at three in the morning, even if I haven't spoken to him for a while," he said, after being asked if he had spoken with Mourinho since becoming the coach of the "Galácticos."

The clash between Benfica and Real Madrid is scheduled for today, January 28. The venue for the match will be the Estádio da Luz, the ball will start rolling at 8 PM, and the game will be officiated by Italian referee Davide Massa, with VAR handled by Marco Di Bello.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.